I'm a fan first and eagerly look forward to the­ Tour de France, regardless of who captains/rides#1 for­ Astana. My wife and I are Lance and George (Hincapie)­ fans. But, of course, they are now on opposing teams. ­ We thoroughly admire Alberto Contador's successes,­ as well as Levi's, too. So, being in a quandary­ about who to "vote" for, we won't. ­ We'll just sit back, confident that Johan will­ handle it, and enjoy the excitement of the Tour,­ rooting for the lot of them! Vive le Tour!

I hope lance can do it again

good luck

I may be a bit bias in writing this being a huge­ armstrong fan but if any body as watched his power­ output video on youtube he was riding at 430 kilo watts­ for 45 minuites and that is absolutely unbelievable!! i­ dont think lance would enter the tour if he didnt­ believe he could win it and i dont think yohan bruyneel­ would risk his reputation/time and albert contadors­ chances by making lance a captain if he didnt genuinely­ believe he could win it!

Goodluck to you two. Viva le tour!

Good luck Contador, I hope the financial situation does­ not affect you when you have an unpaid cook ,machanic,­ bus driver etc etc. I think you get my point. I wonder­ if this was also lost in translation.

Tom, "Armstrong would be better off working for­ Contador in­ France and have Astana's 100% support­ to win the­ Vuelta later this summer."

This is­ not going to happen. For a rider such as Lance who­ always rode only 1 grand tour per year, to ride both­ the Giro and the Tour is epic. There is absolutely no­ chance that at the age of 38 he will enter all three­ grand tours.

Besides, the last rider who gave up a­ Tour for a Vuelta win was Merckx, and the value of the­ Tour has risen way above what it was in the 1970s.

I­ think if he is good enough, Lance will try for a win,­ and no-one, not even he will know how he is going until­ he is into the second week. If he is not at 100%, then­ he will enjoy the race in a aggressive supporting role,­ trying to take the sting out of the legs of Schleck­ etc.

Armstrong would be better off working for Contador in­ France and have Astana's 100% support to win the­ Vuelta later this summer. A different Gran Tour­ victory on his overall record will look better in the­ eyes of racing historians than just 7 or 8 TOF wins. ­

Frankly, I think the comeback was always more about­ this than anything else. The fall took away his­ realistic chances in Italy.

P, your suggestion just highlights my point. What if­ the gap between AC and LA stays sub 1 minute for a­ couple of weeks while both riders drop a couple of­ minutes to the race leader. It's exactly why the­ tactic will ensure neither will win. Astana must decide­ who is their leader, and ALL team members must ride for­ him.

contador won the tour in 2007 and choose to stay with­ astana in 08 even though it meant he could not defend­ his title because of the team he was with. and now the­ time has come for bruyneel and co to repay his loyalty­ they drop him and run off lance because he feels a bit­ nostalgic.I would also probably be a bit bitter and­ tierd of lance mania.

Likely the best move for both individuals and the team­ is for both to compete at their own peak, and the first­ to slip down by say 1 min behind the other goes all out­ to supporting the 'chronologically-decided'­ leader.
'
Optimal in theory but difficult to pull­ off in practice- for example, the tension at the­ breakfast table with say Lance 38 secs behind Contador­ with an ITT that day....

The major problem for Astana is that if they can't­ decide who their leader is then neither will win. I­ keep reading how important the team is, these guys are­ in danger of imploding themselves. For the record, in­ his day I was a huge Lance fan. Now I think Alberto is­ their only hope.

I am Armstrongs fan, I will always be. But as a cycling­ fan you kinda feel sympathy for Contador. He is in a­ very tricky situation. The media want to create a fight­ but the guy doesnt want that. I dont know about Kloden­ but most of the team mates will favor Lance. Popovic­ would work for Lance even if you tell him he will not­ get paid. Most of Armstrongs previous team mates are­ loyal to him. Most of them say great things about­ Lance even when they ride for other teams. So Contadors­ situation is not easy

l1chadwilliams, I think you are right about lost in­ translation, or rather deliberately lost in­ translation, by reporters looking for a story. However­ these sorts of stories are all fuel to Armstrongs fire,­ who seems to build anger and direct this to gain focus­ and motivation.
Its all good coverage for Astana, but­ when the whole tour comes down to (or up to) Mont­ Ventoux, can an ageing Wasstrong really keep up with A­ Shrek and The Cont?
However I think if Lance finishes­ in the top 10 after years out, a lot of respect is due.

Sometimes what Contador says is lost in translation.

B-Portugal----According to earlier reports Basso is­ not riding in this years Tour.

Liam L u're absolutlly right Contador avoide­ controversy and he did well, talking about Contador­ inteligence is not elegant, the man wins the 3 major­ races in 2 years and he only have 26 years, one year­ less than Armstrong when he won hes first TDF, another­ mistake is that everybody is thinking the TDF2009 will­ be decided only by the two Astana man's. Personally­ i believe that is not going to be so easy it can be­ surprise. Nobody is talking about Basso who also caming­ from stopage time (2 years) and is fair best than­ Armstrong, at least in the Giro he made top 5. Menchov,­ Sastre and Andy are all in great shape this TDF will­ not be decided between 2 man's.

Lance is the great rider, but his time is gonne, he had­ a chance on a Giro to show the world with Levi, Popo­ and rest of Astana guys and win Giro, but all riders­ was disaster. No stage win, disaster for team. Now is­ time to suport only rider in Astana team who could win­ grand tour, and this rider is Contador. Armstrong­ wasstrong rider but he have in first 5 years strong­ team (Vandevelde, Leipheimer, Hamilton, Heras,­ Savoldeli, Landis, Hincapie) every rider would die for­ him. For me in the last days of giro he was great, but­ he is much back from Contador

I don't think Contador was being disrespectful -­ quite the reverse. He has avoided being sucked into the­ whole "who is the leader?" debate and­ repeatedly says that the leader will emerge as the Tour­ unfolds. Up until then everyone has a chance and should­ be treated the same - including Armstrong. No­ favourites in other words. Personally I think when they­ hit the high mountains Contador will be the strongest,­ but time will tell.

If you think about it, its like three defending­ champions going head to head. Armstrong after retiring­ on top, Contador after his team was banned from­ competing last year and Sastre last years defending­ champion. This one is setting itself up to be worth the­ price of admission.

Interesting point Liam L, although Sastre will be­ wearing No 1, who will be riding with the 1st number of­ the Astana team. Should really be the last winner,­ although perhaps to settle the matter, Armstrong will­ argue for alphabetical order?